Chapter 97

Chapter 97: My Brain Can’t Keep Up

The birthday banquet the Du Family held this time was not huge, but it was not low-key either.

At the very least, some partners who wanted to get closer to the Du Family took the initiative to call Father Du and Mother Du after hearing the news to ask if it was true.

Mother Du had promised Du An Rao that she would only invite close friends and relatives. But since people were asking so eagerly, it would not be right to turn them all away.

So on the day of the birthday, the front of the Du Family home was still full of noise and activity. All kinds of luxury cars filled up almost every parking spot nearby.

At that time, the two sisters, Du An Rao and Du Yu Xi, were still upstairs in the dressing room on the second floor. They had changed into their outfits and had their makeup done, and were waiting for Mother Du’s final approval.

Today, Du An Rao and Du Yu Xi each wore a knee-length dress, one pink and one blue. The two dresses looked quite similar, but they fit their personalities very well. On Du An Rao, it made her look even younger and cuter. On Du Yu Xi, it made her look even cooler and calmer. At a glance, people could tell who was the older sister and who was the younger.

Looking at her two daughters, who seemed like twin flowers, Mother Du felt her whole heart fill up. She stepped forward and pulled both children into her arms, one on each side.

“Mama’s two babies, after today you will both be eighteen. Time really flies. It feels like I blinked, and you both grew up.”

Hearing this, Du An Rao could not help thinking of how she had been swapped at birth by Wang Xue He. By the time they met again, almost eighteen years had already passed. So of course it felt like she had grown up in a blink, right?

But that casual thought in her heart made the two people beside her suddenly freeze.

Thinking of the banquet later, Mother Du quickly packed away her emotions, took a deep breath, and let go of the two girls.

“Alright, we can save the emotional talk for later. You two birthday girls, our little princesses, we should go downstairs now. You are the main characters today. We can’t keep the guests waiting.”

Mother Du turned around as she spoke and held out her hands so the two girls could each take one arm.

When Mother Du led the two sisters downstairs, the hall below was already full of guests coming and going.

The moment they came down, some people who had gotten the news beforehand started whispering to the people next to them.

The guests who were not whispering were secretly wondering what the Du Family’s purpose was today. They tried to read the Du Family’s attitude toward these two daughters from Du An Rao and Du Yu Xi’s clothes and makeup.

The Du Family members did not care what these people were thinking. As soon as they saw the three of them come down, they quickly gathered around.

Father Du looked over the girls’ clothes, the jewelry they were wearing, and their light makeup, then nodded approvingly: “An An and Yu Xi’s outfits are very suitable today.”

Right behind him, Du Jun Yan gave a simple, clear comment: “You look good.”

Du He Xuan was wearing a flashy bright red suit. On anyone else, such an eye-catching color might have looked tacky, but he wore it with ease.

Hearing everyone praise the two girls, he said proudly: “Anna is one of the top stylists in the circle. If she couldn’t even handle something this small, wouldn’t that ruin her own reputation?”

That was right. The clothes and styling for Du An Rao and Du Yu Xi today had all been done by Du He Xuan’s exclusive stylist.

That star stylist was both his employee and his old friend. Otherwise, they might not have been able to get her to help with something this small.

Of course Du An Rao could see her second brother’s little desire to grab credit and affection. She took the initiative to hook her arm through his and praised him: “Even though Anna did the styling and chose the clothes, all the jewelry we’re wearing today was picked out by you, Brother. They match our outfits so well and set everything off perfectly. What does that show? It shows that your taste is just as good as Anna’s. You’ve got real style.”

“Good thing you still have a conscience.”

Basked in her flattery, Du He Xuan felt completely relaxed and pleased. He lifted his chin like a peacock spreading its tail, looking very proud.

He did not notice at all that the family members not far away all had strange looks on their faces, unable to bear watching.

“Alright, it’s time to go greet everyone. Yu Xi, there are more people tonight. Stay with An An and don’t let anyone bump into her.”

Mother Du gave Du Yu Xi a meaningful look. Du Yu Xi instantly understood and nodded: “Okay. Mom, don’t worry. I’ll stick to An An all night and absolutely won’t let anyone… offend her.”

Even though Du An Rao felt like her family was a bit too nervous and making a fuss over nothing, she did not say anything. Instead, she enjoyed this special care and favoritism.

Seeing that she did not get suspicious, the Du Family members all secretly sighed in relief.

After Du Lian Shuang’s family had visited that day, the Du Family had all gathered to discuss the problem of Du An Rao’s inner voice.

Their final conclusion was that the people who could hear Du An Rao’s inner voice were those who had some kind of blood relation with her and sincerely wished her well.

However, this “blood relation” did not seem to be strictly limited. Someone like Du Yu Xi, who actually did not share any real blood with her but recognized her status and treated her as a real sister, could also hear it.

Then there was this matter of goodwill. When Du Xiu Yuan and his wife had visited before, they had brought hostility toward Du An Rao. Yet even so, they had still been able to hear her inner voice.

On the other hand, Cui Jue Yan had always behaved polite and gentle and had never shown any open malice toward Du An Rao, but he could not hear anything at all.

So did this goodwill mean that the person truly had no bad thoughts toward Du An Rao and was not a bad person at heart?

As for someone like Cui Jue Yan, no matter how harmless he looked on the surface, it could not hide the fact that he wanted to kill Du Lian Shuang’s whole family for their money. Naturally, he would not get any favor from the goddess of luck.

Of course, all of this was just the Du Family’s guess. With so many relatives coming and going through the Du home today, this gathering was both a risk and a test.

No matter what, protecting Du An Rao was the most important thing, especially making sure she did not notice anything strange.

So they all agreed that Du Yu Xi would stay by Du An Rao’s side the whole time today, so she could handle any sudden situation.

After a few simple words among themselves, the Du Family turned their attention to the many guests.

“Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to come to my two daughters’ eighteenth coming-of-age ceremony. Today is their birthday, and also a very happy day for our Du Family. We have found our youngest daughter An Rao, who was sadly lost outside for more than ten years.”

As soon as he said that, the whole room broke into loud chatter.

Father Du had been vague on purpose. He only said that Du An Rao was their daughter who had been lost, but he did not explain how she was lost back then or how they had found her again now.

Many people were full of questions and wanted to ask more, but they saw that Father Du and Mother Du had already taken Du An Rao to meet relatives.

In all her life, this was the first time Du An Rao had been surrounded by so many relatives. When she looked around, everyone she saw had the surname Du.

After just a few minutes, she felt like her eyeballs were starting to spin.

[Help, this is the first time I’ve found out that there are so many people with the surname Du all over the country, and they’re all my relatives. Oh no, was that uncle just now this uncle or that uncle? Ahhh, what do I do? My brain can’t keep up anymore!]